Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie, CBE (born 5 February 1977), best known as Ben Ainslie, is an Englishcompetitive sailor. The most successful sailor in Olympic history, Ainslie won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996-2012, including gold at the last four.[1][2]

He was the first person to win medals in five different Olympic Games in sailing, the third person to win five Olympic medals in that sport (after Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt) and also the second to win four gold medals, after Paul Elvstrøm.[2][3][4]

He started sailing at the age of eight and first competed at the age of ten.[8] His first international competition was aged twelve at the 1989 Optimist world championships held in Japan where he placed 73rd.[citation needed]

At the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships he was in a winning position going into the closing stages of the regatta but was disqualified under rule 69 (gross misconduct) for physically threatening a photographer. Ainslie felt the photographer's boat's wake had prevented him from passing a competitor.[10]

At the beginning of 2005 he worked in the role of Tactician in the New Zealand-based Team New Zealand who were preparing to compete in the challenger selection process to win the right to Challenge for the 32nd America's Cup. In May 2005 Ainslie took the decision to relinquish the role of tactician and focus on improving his Match Racing skills as helmsman of the 'B' boat used to practise and tune the race boat helmed by Dean Barker.

Ainslie figureheaded a British challenge for the Cup alongside Sir Keith Mills the team was named Team Origin. However this challenge withdrew without competing following a period of discussion regarding the future format of the event.

On 10 January 2012, Ainslie Racing was formally announced, figure-headed by Ben with the support of Grant Simmers. It will compete in the remaining AC45 America's Cup World Series events. The team was underwritten by the American defender Oracle Racing, with whom he has close links. The team's aim is to help prepare the defender for competition and to hopefully provide the building blocks for a British challenge to the 35th America's Cup. The recent world series event in San Francisco, finishing on 7 October, Ainslie and his team finished second overall in the fleet racing after leading the competition with a podium finish every race except for the final one. In this he tied on points with team Oracle USA Spithill after the final race, however Spithill was awarded the win due to winning the last race of the regatta, in which Ainslie had had his worst result of the event, 4th, after an infringement on the start line. In the match racing however he was knocked out in the quarter finals.[11]

Ainslie was put in as tactician, a replacement for John Kostecki during an Oracle practice session on 11 September 2013.[12] On 12 September, the following day, he replaced Kostecki going into race six of the 2013 America's Cup.[13] His Oracle Team USA beat Team New Zealand in the America's Cup decider in San Francisco on 25 September.[14]

In December 2013,[15] Ainslie formed Ben Ainslie Racing Ltd, for the purpose of enabling a British team to compete in the next America's Cup race. In January 2014 Ainslie publicly announced his project, which to be delivered would need to raise £100M, backed initially by 12 core supporters including Sir Charles Dunstone and Sir Keith Mills.[16] In December 2014 Ben Ainslie Racing and Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) announced that they would work together on the America's Cup project, with Formula One designer Adrian Newey leading RBAT's efforts regarding design and engineering.[17]

In April 2014, as part of the launch of Rear AdmiralRob StevensTransforming Solent report, which makes 36 recommendations with 15 prioritised at an investment cost of £91M, Ainslie announced plans to build a team headquarters within the River Solent area.[18] Having reviewed a number of sites, the project put forward plans to develop an operational building at Camber Dock, as part of the wider redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour. The team administration building is scheduled for construction on East Street, Portsmouth, subject to planning permission.[19] On 18 June, Portsmouth Council approved plans for the £12M main operations building, which Ainslie confirmed would be built subject to £8M of requested UK Government-backed development funding.[20]

On 1 July 2014, in a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, central government funding of £7.5M towards the operational buildings construction was confirmed, with construction reliant on final planning permission from the council and the project raising the additional required funds.[21] The operational building is also where the boat will be designed, and provide full crew development facilities. Final approval from the council is schedule for 15 July 2014, with the building currently[when?] planned to be completed by May 2015.[21]

In January 2014, it was announced that Ainslie would compete in the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series as part of his preparation for the America's Cup. The eight-race event will see him compete in a 40 feet (12 m) multi-hull boat.[22]

On 19 May 2012, Ainslie became the first person to carry the Olympic torch in the UK. Starting the 70-day tour of the United Kingdom at Land's End, he was the first of 8,000 torch carriers, passing the flame to 18-year-old Cornish surfer Tassy Swallow.[31]